Nigeria has struck back at social media network service, Twitter, suspending indefinitely its operations in the country.
The suspension was announced by Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, through a statement issued in Abuja on Friday and signed by Segun Adeyemi, Special Assistant to the President (Media) Office of the Minister of Information and Culture.
Mohammed, in the statement, said that the suspension was as a result of the use of the platform for activities that were capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.
He said that the Federal Government had also directed the
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the
process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in the country.
It will be recalled that twitter on Tuesday deleted a tweet on the official handle of President Muhammadu Buhari following complaints by some social media users that it had genocidal undertones.
President Buhari had during a visit by an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) team, led by its Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, to brief him on attacks on its offices in different parts of the country said that those trying to undermine his government through such activities would soon receive the shock of their lives.
He had also said that some of those responsible for the actions did not have experience of the civil war and that those of them that did would treat them in the language they understand.
“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War.
“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”
Mohammed had reacted swiftly to the deleting of President Buhari’s tweet, alleging that the network was biased against government and promoting issues that were against the interest of the country.
